Corn Nixtamalization with Washing Soda

I am curious if it is possible to make hominy using washing soda (sodium carbonate) instead of slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) or wood ash. Before I check to see if pickling lime is even available at the local supermarket, I want to know if anyone has tried using washing soda to make hominy since washing soda is more readily available at my local supermarket than pickling lime. Washing soda can be easily made by heating dry baking soda above a certain temperature until the baking soda decomposes into washing soda. My main concern is that washing soda may not be able to raise the pH of water to a high enough level for the nixtamalization reaction to properly occur. Washing soda more readily dissociates in water than baking soda, but it does not dissociate nearly as well as calcium hydroxide.

Give it a try.... You could know as soon as tomorrow whether or not it works.

The pH of Calcium hydroxide and washing soda solutions can both be around 12. I bet that either one would work.

Update: Earlier this week, I found a YouTube video of someone successfully using washing soda to make hominy. His final product looks satisfactorily soft and suitable for use in soups.

My attempt at making hominy last night with washing soda was a huge failure. Although the washing soda solution softened the corn kernels and removed the corn seed coat, the resulting hominy was unpalatably bitter and I got a chemical burn on the inside of my mouth trying to eat it. This is only my first attempt trying to make hominy with washing soda so I don't know if washing soda will always yield an unpalatably bitter hominy or if I just added too much washing soda to the solution for cooking the kernels. For now, I will default to using calcium hydroxide for my hominy until I can figure out exactly how much washing soda to add to the water and if I can ever get a palatable hominy from washing soda.

oh poo. I nixtamalize my own (it's the only way to get masa here) and it's disappointing after all that work to have it not come out.
out of curiosity, did it smell right? as soon as i boil it with lime, the characteristic smell comes up (and everyone comes running in to ask if i'm making masa...)

Tereza Okava wrote:oh poo. I nixtamalize my own (it's the only way to get masa here) and it's disappointing after all that work to have it not come out.
out of curiosity, did it smell right? as soon as i boil it with lime, the characteristic smell comes up (and everyone comes running in to ask if i'm making masa...)

Whenever I use calcium hydroxide, also called cal, the corn solution has a strong tortilla smell. It's also easier for me to safely measure out the calcium hydroxide than with wood ash or washing soda since there's more documentation available with this method.

When I used the washing soda last night, the resulting solution had a very faint tortilla smell while simmering but not as strong as with calcium hydroxide. The solution also lacked the characteristic color change found with hominy made from calcium hydroxide. The yellow popcorn kernels turned a dull brown color instead of a bright orange as in my previous experiences making hominy from Orville Redenbacher hybrid popcorn with calcium hydroxide.